Breaker for electric circuits.



F. I. SESSIONS.

BREAKER FOR ELECTRIC CIRCUITS APPLICATION FILED OUT. 29, 1903.

Patented Ot. s, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

1'72 752ml: I JesJa ms I F. L. SESSIONS BREAKER FOR ELECTRIC CIRCUITS.

Patented Oct. 8,4912

2 BHEETB-SHEET 2 72; MOTOR.

Even???" frank zidessc ons countersunk screws 11.

UNITED STATES PigTENT OFFICE.

- FRANK L. SESSIONS, F COLUMBUS, OHIO, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, To THE JEFFREY MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented ea. 8,191

Application filed October 2s, 1903. Serial No. 179,096.

To all whom it may concern:-

Be itknown that I, FRANK L. Snssioxs, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Co-' Circuits, of which the following is a specification, reference belng had therein to the accompanying drawings. v

This invention relates to improvements in electric circuit breakers and in the devices used therewith for blowing out or entinguishingthe are produced at the time of the opening of the circuit.

' The object is to provide a simplified l'11Q(l12LI1iSIIl,'1'l16 parts of which are arranged compactly and in such way as to attain superior results in comparison with those attained. with the earlierdevices of this class. Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a cir-. cuit breaker embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a cross section on the line ma; of Fig. 1. Fig. is a cross section on the line y/ir/ of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a diagram of the electrical connections of the circuit breaker. Fig. 5 is a detail view. 1 is an end all and 2 is a wall at right angles thereto, these being adapted to torm parts 01 a box or housing. At 3 there is a wall. parallel to that at 1, but not extended up from the bottom wall 2 as tar as the wall 1.

4 is an extension of the bottom wall .2 for a purpose to be described.

is a flange extending inward from the wall 1 with its top surface in the plane ot' the top surface of the wall 3.

6 indicates as an entirety a magnet which is situated centrally on the bottom wall 2 with its core Tat right angles thereto. From one end of the core there extends a pole piece 8 situated ina transverse plane midway between the walls 1 and 3.

9 and 10 represent plates of insulating material, that at 9 being supported at one edge 'upon the flange 5 o't'the wall 1, and

at the other edge being supported upon the magnet core; and that at 10 being supported at one edge uponthe wall 3 and at the other edge upon the magnet core. These insulating plates are secured in place by means of plates 9 and 10 there are formed two contact chambers 12, these having side walls 3, 11- of insulating material which extend Uiiove each of thev from the bottom wall 2 up to lines sonicwhat above the end wall 1, andv having transverse walls'l i, 1 1 of insulating material. Through these contact chambers passes a shaft 15, which, at one end, is mounted in a bearing 16 in the end wall 1, and at the otherend in a bearing to be described. This shaft carries a series of movable contacts 17, 17, 17 17. Each of these movable contacts is situated within one of the aforesaid chambers 12-, 12. Opposite to each of them there is placed a stationary contact. These stationary contacts are indicated on the drawings by 18, 18, 18", and 18 and they may be made in any preferred way. As shown, each stationary contact consists of a curved bar or arm pivoted at 19 and having a spring 20 arranged to bear against it and torce'it toward. the axis of the shaft 15. The contacts or each of the two series 17 to 17F. and 18 to 18 may be insulated in. any preferred way in relation to each other and in relation to the other parts of the mechanism. 1? or the sake of illustration 1 have shown'all of these parts of the circuit, together with'the magnet coils as being-in series, as illyistrated in the diagram in Fig.

That end ot the shaft opposite to the hearing at 16 is supported in a hearing at 21.

This is formed in or upon a wall or stand ard piece 22 which at is securedto the bottom wall. 2. Preferably this wall or standard "22 is made of zinc, brass or other non-magnetic material for reasons that will be understood from the description below.

At 24. a magnetic mass such as a plate or bar of iron is placed. It is movable on lines sul'istantially parallel to the axis of the shaft Preferably it is pivoted at 25 to the bottom plate 2. The lines of magnetic force generated in the magnet at 6 are conducted along this part at 24, there being two magnetic circuits in the apparatus as a whole, one extending from the magnet core'7 upward along the plate at Sand thence to the lefttoward the wall 1, (the upper part of which at 27 may be regarded "as a pole) and thence downward to the bottom Wall 2 be low the magnet, and the other of Which extends from the magnet core upward through the said part8 and thence across toward the right to the lately described part at- 2-1, the upper portion 27 OfIYlllCll ntlay be regarded I as a pole, and thence downward to the bottom plate 2. One of these that at 27 being movable toward the pole metal at 8, it will naturally tend to travel in the direction thereof as far as possible when current is passing through the magnet. To prevent'such mot-ion of this. pole 27 until a predetermined strength of current has been reached, a spring 28 is connected, to the upper end thereof and adjustably connected to a holder 29. The latter is preferably in-the form of ascrew engaged with a button or disk at the end of the spring 28 and adapted to move it farther in or out as desired. 30 is a disk or collar mounted upon the shaft 15. It is adapted to move alongthe shaft freely' to a limited extent, its lon- J provided between the vibrating on and the'other as the ofl" gitudinal movement being limited and rotation with respect to the shaft being prevented by means of a feather and groove, or by a pin passing through a slot in the shaft, or by an equivalent device.

31 is a peripheral groove' formed in the disk or collar 30'. p A clutch connection is pole piece 24 and this clutch or collar. As shown,'the pole piece has cars 32' which carry pins or rollers 33 fitting loosely in the groove31. As the pole piece moves in or out along the shaft, the pins 33 cause a corresponding movement of the disk or collar.

34 is a second disk which is loosely mounted upon the shaft 15, preferably by being formed upon the .end of a sleeve 35. This sleeve projects through the bearing wall or standard 22 above described, the disk'34 lying uponthe inside and adjacent to the sliding disk or collar 30. i

The disks 30 and 34 can be temporarily connected by means of a pin 36 carried by one, and a pin socket or cavity 37 formed in, the other. i 1

Under normal circumstances the spring 28 tends to hold the disk 30 in its outermost position with-the pin 36 in .the socket 37.

And when theparts are in such positions the turning of the sleeve 35 and the disk 34 will result in a corresponding turning of the shaft 15 and of the movable contacts 17 to 17. I There are two ordinarily occupied positions of the parts, one referred to as the position. The disk 34 can be yieldingly held in either of these two positions.

38 is a pawl pivoted at 39 and adapted' to engage with either of two notches or abutment shoulders on the disk 34, these respectively corresponding to the on and off positions of the contacts. This pawl is normally held under pressure against the disk by a spring 40 which is connected to an, arm 41 rigid with it. The spring 40 extends up from t lower end of the pawl arm 41 and is connected to a projection or radial extension enhancer. mllamBO, and itsnormal poles, namely,

'in quantity tendency is to turn this disk 30 around upon its axis and therefore to turn also the shaft 15. When, however, the pin 36 is seated in the cavity at 37 in the disk 34 such turning of the disk 30 is prevented. The parts at.

30, 34 and 35 are also preferably made of zinc or other non-magnetic material in order that they may act in the least degree attainable in the scattering or dissipating of the lines of magnetic force.

The inleading wire or main is indicated by 42 and the outleading wire is indicated by'43, extending from the circuit breaker to the motor or to the controller.

. The sleeve 35 is connected with a lever, such as indicated at 44, by which the-operator can turn the disk 34 as required.

I intend also tocombine a circuit breaker of this character directly with a controller apparatus, in which case the sleeve 35 or its corresponding part will beconnected with a rotary shaft or barrel on the controller and both sets of parts can be actuated by a single lever. advantageous to vary the circumferential lengths of the contacts 17 to 17 or the con-.

cumstancesv as may be met with.

tacts 18 to 18 or both, to satisfy such cir- The manner in which the device above described operates'will be readily understood Assuming that no current is passing through the train of conducting devices, and

that the "operator desires tointroduce it to the motor, he first, by means of the'lever 44, imparts a partial rotation'tothe sleeve 35, and that in turn partially rotates the grooved collar 30, and the shaft'15 brings the contacts 17 to 17, respectively,'into contact with those at 18' to 18. The current now passes from one set .ofcontacts to the other, and thence to the motor or other translator... These positions. of the. parts will be maintained as long as the current 'flows less than that whichni's'predetermined. As soon as the. current exceeds In such case it will be found the predeterminedlimit thamagnetic effort of the magnet 6 is increased, and the magnetic lines which pass from the magnet pole 8 to thoseat 27 and 27' increased. The first efiect is to cause the pole piece 27 8 in opposition to the spring 28. The result of-this movement is that the pins 33in the are correspondingly to move toward the pole piece groove 31 of" the ,collar 30 draw the collar 4 inward and the pin 36 is drawn out from the socket or cavity sleeve 35. 30 are thus disengaged the spring '40, which is under tension, v v

collar 30,-and with itthe shaft/15.. The latter compels the movable contactsJTto 17 to move away from the stationary ones at 18: to 18, and the. circuit is; broken. Thebreak occurs simultaneously at ea ch iand-all of thefour pairs of contacts break in 37 in thedisk 34 on the" As soon .as the pin and its collar compels 'the' rotation of the that are formed between the contacts are circumferential or tangential to this axis of rotation. And the magnetic lines of forcebetween the pole 8 and the poles 27 and 27 are transverse or at right angles to the planes across the axis in which'the arcs exist.

One of the principal features of the pres ent invention is the provision of a cylindrical switch with a magneticlilow out meclranism'having its parts so constructed and arranged that the lines of force run substantially parallel to .the axis of rotation of the switch in the regions where the contacts are located while the arcs which occur when the contacts are separated are generated on lines which are circumferential or tangential -to the surfaces of the contacts. As a result-the arcs are forced away from the contacts along substantially radial lines by the said magnetic action. This is incontrast with other switching and controlling devices having magnetic -blo\v outs of the earlier sorts, wlmrein'the parts are so arranged that the.

magnetic lines are radial to the axis. The

are generated on lines which are circumferential er tangential, and the lines of magnetioforcedrive the are parallel to the axis of the cylinder with a great .tendency' to burn the insulationbetween the contacts, and requiring either frequent renewals or necessitating the use of very thickinsulati'ng bodies;

In the present construction, the lines, as

above stated. run parallel to he axis of the cylinder and the arc is forced out radially away from the axis and away from the insulating materials. r

The contacts 17 to 17 being formed or provided. with the peculiarly shaped edges 1'7 which project somewhat beyond the thicker part of the contact, the are at the time of the separation of the. contacts is drawn away from the-principal surfaces at 17?, and if any burning or excessive heat:

ing of the metal occurs it is confined to this I 1 Pd r pro ecting and reduced part at 11 lhc mam portion of the rotary contact is thus largely saved from destruction.

My preferred manner of connecting up ,the diiferent parts of the circuit is illus-' t-rated diagrammatically in Fig. 4. The line a2 which conducts the currentinto the apparatus is connected to the stationary con tact 18. The movable contact 17 is electrically connected with the movable contact with that at 17.' The terminals of the wire of the magnet 6 are respectively connected to the stationary contacts 18 and 18 And the outgoing wire 43 from the circuit breaker is connected to the stationary contact 18, it running thence to the controller, motor or other translator. And when these connections arelemplo-yed it will be seen that when.

the shaft brings its movable contacts into engagement with the stationary contacts the current passes from the wire 42 to the contacts 18 and 17, thence to the contacts 17 and 18 thence through the wire of thema'gnet .6 to the contacts 18 and 17 thence to. the contacts 17 and 18, and thence out to the controller or motor.

While I have described a series of con nections for the contacts and the magnet,

it will be understood that I do not limit the novel features of 'the invention to any precise arrangement of the contacts, as any number of these can be employed, and if more than one pair are used they can be placed in any desirable multiple or series arrangement.

* It will be further seen that the peculiar connection which I, provide between the disk 3 1 and the sleeve35, and the rotary contacts,

is .of such nature that there is nomanual control of the automatic break of the circuit. If the current passes the desired and predetermined limit, the contacts will automatically separate eyen though an operator should, by hand, prevent the sleeve 35 and disk 34 from turning. .As soon as the mcrease of current results in an increase oi:

magnetism the grooved disk or collar 30 is disengaged from the sleeve 35 and disk 34 (which is the only part the operator can control) and thereupon the brgaking of the circuitis auton'iatically effected by the instantaneous and powerful action of the spring 10. Thereafter the operator is compelled to rotate the sleeve and the disk 34:, by means of hislever at, to again bring the socket 37 and the pin 36 into lines of r-egisteringbefore he can close the circuit by bringing the contacts'together. As soon as hedoes thus, by hand, turn the disk 3% far enough to bring the socket- 37 opposite the pin 36, the spring 28 will cause the pin to snap into the socket and the two d isks will be again joined together. Then by givinga reverse motion to the disk 3 he can compel it to cause the collar 30 to rotate the shaft and bring the movable contacts 17 tel? into engagement with the contacts 18 to 18.

It will be understood that there can be numerous n'iodifications with respect to the features of construction which I have described. The disk 30 and the spring 40 can be regarded as a motor adapted to actuate the movable contacts. which motor is interposed between the manual setting devices and the contact at 17 is i n tprn connected I and the contacts in suchway that its action cannot be interfered with. The lock or stop which holdsthespring motor in position ready for action can be electro-magnetically released independently of the movement of 5 the pole .piece 27', although I prefer the construction illustrated on account of its simplicityand the reduction of the number vof parts. So, too, the number of the pairs of contacts can be varied to meet differing requirements.

i What I claim is:

1. In a circuit breaker, the combination of the separable contacts, and the magnet having its poles disposed on opposite sides of said cont-acts so that the arcing space of the contacts lies in the magnetic air gap between said poles, one of said poles being novable toward and from the other under re action of the magnetic flux, substantially as set forth.

' 2. In a circuit breaker, the combination of the separable contacts, the magnet having its poles disposed on. opposite'sides of said contacts so that the arcing space of the contacts lies in the magnetic air gap between said poles, one of said poles being movable toward and from the other under the action of the magnetic flux, and the spring for controlling the movements of said movable pole, substantially as set forth.

3, In a circuit breaker, the combination of the separable contacts, the magnet having its poles disposed on opposite sides of said contacts so that the arcing space of the contacts lies in the magnetic air gap between said poles, one of the said poles being movable toward and from the other under the action of the magnetic flux, a spring for controlling the movements of said movable pole, and means for varying. the tension of the spring, substantially as set forth.

4'.- In a circuit breaker, the combination of the separabl contacts, the magnet having its poles disposed on opposite sides of said contacts so ,that the arcing space ofthe contacts lies in the magnetic air gap between said poles, one of said poles being movable toward and from the other under the action of the magnetic flux, the motor for separating the contacts, and a lock for the motor connected to the movable pole, substantially v as setforth. I

5. In a circuit breaker, the combination of the separable contacts, the magnet having its poles disposed on opposite sides of said contacts so that the arcing space of the contacts lies in the magnetic air gap between said'poles,.one of said. poles being movable toward and from the other under the action of the magnetic flux, manual means for setting the movable contact, and 1 means connected with the said movable pole for' rendering the .manual means inoperative, substantially as set forth.

.6. In a breaker for ele ctric circuits, the

. substantially as s'et forth.

combination of the separable contacts, the

magnet having a pole piece on one side of the arcing space of the contacts, a pole piece on the other side of said arcing space movable magnetically to its are blowing position, means for moving it from said posia series of pairs of separable contacts, and

the electromagnet having a single coil all of'the turns of which are in one direction and having a plurality of poles and a plu-i rality of air gaps therebetween, some of the said contacts being disposed in each of the several air gaps, substantially as set forth.

8. In a circuitbreaker, the combination of several pairs of contacts, one contact of each pair being movable, the rotary shaft upon which the movable contacts are mounted in a series extending lengthwise of said shaft, and the electro-magnet having a single coil all of the turns of which are in one direction and having a plurality of poles and a plurality of magnetic air gaps extending therebetween, some of the said contacts being disposed in each offthe said air gaps, substantially as set forth.

tion, a spring for separating the contacts, locking devlces for holding the spring- 9. In a circuit breaker, the combination of several pairs of contacts, one contact of each pair being movable, the rotary shaft upon which the movable contacts are mounted in a series extending lengthwise of said shaft, an electrovmagnet having a single coil all of the turns of which are in one ,direc tion and having a plurality of poles and a plurality of magnetic air gaps extending therebetween, some of the said contacts being disposed. in each of thesaid air gaps, and the lines of force in said air gaps being parallel to the axis of motion of the movable contacts and transverse to the 'lines of the arcs formed between the contacts of each pair, substantially as set forth.

10. In a breaker for an electric circuit, the

combination of the series of several pairs of contacts, one contact of each pair being movable, the rotary shaft carrying each. of the said movable contacts, the magnet having a single coil all of the turns of which are in one direction and having a pole' of one polarity situated with one or morepairsj of contacts on each side of it and two poles of similar polarity opposite to that. aforesaid,

arranged at the outer ends of both series ofv i pairs .of contacts, a motor for rotatingjthej movable contacts" and an elec'tro-inagn cally movable lock or stop 11. In a circuit breakerpthe combination for the:v mot of a series of several pairs of contacts one.130

single coil all of contacts on eachQside of it and two poles 'of similar polarity opposite to that aforesaid arranged at the outer ends of both series of pairs of contacts, substantially as set forth.

12. In a circuit breaker the combination of separable contacts, a magnet having its poles disposed on opposite sides of the said contacts, so that the arcing space of the contacts lies in the magnetic air gap between the said poles, one of said poles'being movable toward and from the other under the action of the magnetic flux and means controlled by the movement of the said movable pole for separating the said contacts, substantially as set forth.

l3. In a circuit making or breaking device, the combination of an electro-magnet having two poles one ofwhich is movable toward or away -from the other, separable contacts between the two poles, and mechanism controlled by the movable pole for separating the contacts.

14. In a circuit breaker the combination of a box composed of insulating material,

separable switch contacts within the box,

an electro-magnet, pole pieces for the mag-- net outside the box on opposite sides thereof and mechanism controlled by the movable one of the ole ieces bein movable pole piece for separating the contacts upon the movement of the pole piece, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature 'in presence of two witnesses.

. FRANKL. SESSIONS. Witnesses:

G. E. VVAXBORN, L. E. HAMILTON. 

